Spring Keel

by Tom Jenkins, Witchy Woman

The lead up weather forecasts for the Spring Keel were anything but good news. 25-30kts with rain on Saturday and light breeze on Sunday with the possibility for showers is what was being called for. As the weekend got closer the weather pattern settled into a better phase, with sunny to some clouds with lighter breeze for both days, temps in the mid 50s to 60s. As usual I trekked the Express across the bay Friday where there was a good chop created by the tidal outflow with a southerly breeze of about 10 knots. Not exactly what I wanted to see for race day, but better then rain. Saturday rolled around and immediately after the R/C Skipper's Meeting, the crews were thrown into a one hour postponement because of the lack of breeze. In fact, the SF Bay in front of St. Francis Yacht Club looked a lot like a mill pond, we now knew it would be a light 'winter affair'. When racing did start, Saturday saw 14 Expresses 25 or so Moores, and a handful of other fleets with small turnouts. The Expresses and Moores are still showing the best turnouts of just about any West Coast fleets. In fact, the Express Fleet looks very healthy with many new owners in the fleet, who are enjoying the boat and the Class camaraderie.

Saturday saw Witchy Woman get off the line and immediately dive right tacking into the ebbing current for the first leg, this tactic became the flavor of the first beats. Boats going left lost ground every boat length to the left because of the stronger currents. The strong ebb meant that sailing the beats would be shorter then the runs, as running would be directly into the current. This pattern set up an accordion affect at each of the marks, which kept us on the Witch on our toes, keeping a close eye on El Raton, with Ray's crew, supplemented with Dave Hodges of Santa Cruz Sails,close on our wake. Race two was similar with Xena stretching out and grabbing the bullet. Xena and Witchy Woman fought down to the last meter across the line, with Mark's crew keeping a close cover on the Witch, not allowing us to escape and explore for better breeze, or less currents. Because Magic and Wile were so close behind the two leaders, we on Witchy Woman didn't want to sacrifice a hardcore tacking duel with the possibility that either Magic or Wile might slip by and get us or possibly both us and Xena, so we conservatively sailed the final leg into a second. Finishing the final race of Saturday saw the standing wide open for the top few spots.

After racing concluded Saturday StFYC hosted our year end Fleet Party. Great beer, and h'orderves added to the good social time of the evening, with our Class President Peggy Lidster MC'ing the trophy awards. Trophies were handed out for High Point winners in both Distance and Buoy Race schemes. Dan Pruzan of Wile E Coyote scored well taking home the 'Most Improved' award, and the Distance High Point Trophy.

Sunday, started out with a little better breeze varying right at the cross over point between the genoa and the #3. The lessons learned from Saturday; start and immediately tack into the ebb, were clear, which made for a crowded start at the committee boat end. With the majority of the fleet vying for the committee end of the line, there were lots of close quarter maneuvers and even some paint being traded among a couple of boats. Witchy Woman decided to jump the gun, and provide a nice 100 or so meter head start for the fleet as we had to round the committee boat restarting the race. El Raton, and Wile E Coyote looked to have a great race, taking home a 1 and a 2 respectively, or so we thought. As it turned out Witchy Woman wasn't the only boat OCS, however, most of the OCS boats didn't restart. The final race, was lead by Motorcycle Irene, until they had a unfortunate takedown at the last bottom mark. Magic and Witchy Woman rounded inside Irene and sailed for the finish, now at the mid range of the #3 jibs. The end of the day brought about a clear field order. While the racing was close and tight, it was also favorable for the newer boats to get into the action. I hope we continue to see many new boat owners out on the line, lets work our fleet up into the twenties for turnout!!!

Report by Tom Jenkins

Witchy Woman